Forwarded from Kathy Rae Huffman


> -----Original Message-----
> From: kathy rae huffman [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:18 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] Gender Theme continues
>
>
> Dear Verina (and dear Crumb listers),
>
> Verina, you found the way to jolt me out of simply reading everyone's
> responses to the ongoing gender topic. Thank you for admitting your
> "ignorance" (but it's a pretty strong word) about some of the female
> strategies about.  I don't exactly understand how you found the FACES 
> get
> together in Singapore to be 'self excluding' because it brought 
> together
> many new friends and contacts.
>
> Just to clarify a few points, especially regarding FACES (which is a 
> female
> only mailing list, open to all women, started in 1997). FACES is a 
> totally
> volunteer operation, nobody has been paid for organizing it, nor for
> moderating or hosting it.  It's a shared responsibility. The list is 
> one
> thing, and a website is another (which doesn't function very well at 
> the
> moment, but is on the verge of being upgraded to a drupal content 
> management
> system that will allow for FACES who choose, to maintain their own 
> input).
> It's currently hosted by Servus in Linz, and has functioned will in 
> this
> environment under the supervision of Ushi Reiter.
>
> From the begging, one of the main ideas for FACES was to establish a
> platform where women could communicate with each other outside the 
> harsh
> criticism of their male colleagues, especially when they required some
> 'minor' advice, or technical support. As a small group, we were 
> ourselves
> interested in getting to know what other female artists and curators 
> were
> thinking, especially about the lack of women in festivals, etc, way 
> back in
> the 1990s. We also wished to assist women understand the power of 
> working
> together, using internet communication, and sharing.  We were also 
> thrilled
> at the spontaneous interest of so many women who wanted to link up.  
> It is
> an ancient tradition anyway, for women to network and offer assistance 
> to
> one another.
>
> Why have women only meetings at festivals and conferences?  Why have
> meetings outside the conference/festival programme?  These are good
> questions, but perhaps easily explained.  As previously noted, and as 
> Eva
> Ursprung has so clearly explained, the FACES concept is not dictated 
> by any
> individual, but rather it is a platform for various women to use the 
> network
> they create by joining, for gathering a group for social exchange.
> Normally, in these kinds of events, this results in other information
> sharing, collaboration, and exchange.  As one of the founders, I was 
> quite
> active in the first several years, to work towards building a kind of 
> core
> of women who could reach out and extend themselves, share their 
> information
> and contacts with other women.  Yes, it's possibly a very naïve idea 
> but it
> seemed to be attractive to several hundred women in dozens of 
> countries.
>
> Like Eva has said, it is a tough job to organize events for others, and
> after many successful 'formal' events and presentations, perhaps some 
> of us
> have become weary and have shifted our energy towards, hoping that 
> other
> women would step in and pick up the ball and run with it. It has 
> happened in
> some cases, and certainly never demands any approval from anyone, and 
> is
> always supported with attendances where ever it happens.  It is not 
> always
> necessary to formally announce something, there is a network of voices 
> that
> connect people.  And, not to mention (at ISEA 2008) there were also 
> many
> closed meetings within the conference that were announced and not 
> announced,
> but were not available to everybody...it happens.
>
> Why women only?  It's an often asked question, but simply said, it 
> doesn't
> work when men enter the conversation. They are usually given 
> preference, and
> they most often take charge. We have nothing against men, and have dear
> colleagues, partners and associates who are men, it is rather simply 
> we wish
> to keep a female forum, run by women for women.  If it ceases to be of
> interest, of value or of support, it will naturally decline.  However 
> that
> isn't what's happening!
>
> We apologize if any women has ever felt 'not invited', because it is 
> not the
> message we send out. Neither do I or the other moderators seek to take
> credit for the list's success or its contents -- that is the result of 
> the
> women who use it. FACES is not 'new' media specific, but does focus on 
> media
> arts and communication -- there are academics, students, artists,
> psychologists, writers, curators, and many other.  We don't advertise 
> or
> promote the list, it is simply an organic (and very open) association. 
> Many
> very interesting projects, local mailing lists, and collaborations have
> happened because of FACES, which is a very positive outcome.
>
> Any questions or comments are welcome.
> Cheers,
> Kathy
>
> www.faces-l.net
>
> cc'd to the FACES list
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Curating digital art - www.crumbweb.org
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Verina Gfader
> Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:37 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] Gender Theme continues
>
> Dear List-
> Thanks for a number of interesting and proliferating posts on our 
> gender
> theme which continues during November. Having had this storm of voices
> re ICA media arts, institutional politics, hybrid practices and
> questions of 'value-ability', CRUMB would like to return to some points
> that have been made on representation/under-representation of women
> within the arts and curatorial practices; notions of subject-formation
> prior to gender-division; or to refer to Katy's post sent by Marcia, on
> the ignorance or disregard of the "wealth" of creative women and a
> certain call for recursion to 1970s forms of activism.
>
> From my own perspective - being (not a very active) FACES member - I 
> was
> surprised that at ISEA Singapore there was a FACES meeting held, but
> exclusive to FACES members it seemed. It was not announced publicly and
> although it was a nice gathering of interesting women in one way or the
> other connected to FACES, I wonder if, and in what way, this
> self-exclusion contributes to the "ignorance" from the larger public.
> On the other hand, working as an artist using advanced technologies, I
> admit I am not spoiled with much choice of programmers with whom I
> collaborate to realise the work. But rather gender-ising the
> collaboration, I am thinking of certain personalities that temporarily
> come together and make something possible. In a way I feel torn between
> my idea of agency and activism which includes questions of gender, and
> under-representation of women specifically, and my own "ignorance" of
> the ways such strategies might be carried out and possibly erase, or
> indeed exceed, established boundaries.
>
> Verina
>
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Beryl Graham, Professor of New Media Art
School of Arts, Design, Media and Culture, University of Sunderland
Ashburne House,
Ryhope Road
Sunderland
SR2 7EE
Tel: +44 191 515 2896    [log in to unmask]
CRUMB web resource for new media art curators
http://www.crumbweb.org

In November, I'm mostly finishing writing a book, so will be checking 
and replying to email less frequently.